


The Bouncers

by Jacksonian



Series: Lucifer Prompts [3]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Side Story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-01-24 06:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18565918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacksonian/pseuds/Jacksonian
Summary: This is a prequel side story of my other fic, "Rocky Road with a side of Jealousy" focusing on Joseph and LGBT friendly narrative.Rocky Road: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18492655





	1. The Deal Line

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for the horrendous lack of female characters in chapter 1, hopefully chapter 2 will be better.

Joseph “Knuckles” Black had done 10 years for armed robbery and another 5 for assaulting another inmate. When he got out of prison he was alone and had trouble finding a job. He knew he didn’t really want to go back to jail but didn’t have a good way to build credit or get work given he hadn’t had a job before and was a reformed criminal. That’s when he heard from one of his sister’s neighbors about making “a deal with the Devil.” So, he gathered as much information as he could and set off for Lux on a busy Friday night.

Joseph, dressed in his nicest suit, approached the club’s bouncer directly trying to avoid the long line of club-going women.

“Back of the line pal!” the bouncer yelled at him.

“Sorry bro, I’m here about making a deal with Devil. Is this where I go?” Joseph tried to be calm, but the man’s lack of people skills was setting him on edge. The bouncer looked him up and down and up again before signaling behind him to a dark corridor filled with all kinds of people.

“That’s the deal line buddy, good luck getting in tonight. Most people line up for that around 8 am.” The asshole bouncer laughed at him and went back to checking the IDs of pretty women.

Joseph sighed and went to join the long line for a Deal.

~ 5 hours later ~

“Ok everyone out, the boss has taken enough deals for tonight” A voice yelled over the group. Joseph had been sitting on the floor a while now, waiting and hoping for a chance and now it looks like he’d have to start over again another day. People filed past him and just waiting, staring, lost in thought. He didn’t really want to go back to his sister’s couch with her drug dealing boyfriend running the show, especially this late at night.

“Hey dude, did you hear me? Deal’s are done for today.” A nice looking Hispanic man in a dark green vest stopped in front of him.

“I think I might really need help, do you mind if I just wait here until tomorrow’s deal line?” Joseph asked him in the nicest, most honest voice he could muster. It was hard for strangers to trust him based on his looks, but it was worth a shot.

“I get it man, but the boss doesn’t take deals every night, he’s got a side job with LAPD so some nights he’s working. Let me go check for you. What’s your deal concerning?”

“um…. I’m not really sure to be honest.” Joseph looked down, he knew he needed help getting on his feet but in all his time sitting here, he hadn’t made a plan for what to say or what to offer up in return.

The guy just smiled and slid inside, leaving Joseph thinking about how different this man was compared to the jerk he had had to endure for the other line.

~*~*~*~

“Hey boss…” Aiden jogged to catch up to Lucifer at the top of the stairs.

“Yes, Aiden? Is there something you need before I tend to this lovely trio?” Lucifer waved a hand at the two girls and guy waiting on the top step landing. They all looked buzzed but nothing too over the top. The guy actually looked a little anxious about the prospect of laying with Satan.

“There’s a guy outside I think you need to see,” Aiden remarked as he got closer to his boss, trying to keep a businesslike tone to hold Lucifer’s attention.

Meanwhile the devil shot him a skeptical look, clearly more interested in what would be happening upstairs as soon as the interruption was over. But he didn’t say anything to dissuade his employee, he had come to know that Aiden had a good sense when it came to important deals and people’s needs.

Aiden struggled to find a way to phrase his gut feeling, “I think he’s a lost soul, he needs your special skills to find his way.”

“And …. There’s something you’re not mentioning” Lucifer had caught that sly look in Aiden’s eyes. He had an ulterior motive.

“And I’ve been watching him all night sir. He’s a good one. I – I like him.” Starting from his neck, the man blushed all the way to his ears before Lucifer cut him some slack.

“Bring Joseph Black inside Aiden, and then please show this group to the toy lounge.” Lucifer buttoned up his shirt a bit more from where it had been opened by his adoring fans. One had to look professional after all.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Don’t mention it.” Lucifer went to sit back down and then turned to look at Aiden, “but if you two have children, or kittens, or whatever it is you like, I want one named after me.”

“Of course, sir.” Aiden smiled. _Of course, he knew I thought the guy was hot. What else could I expect from LUCIFER._

~*~*~*~

“Joseph, he will see you now,” Aiden offered him a hand up. Joseph took the offered help and felt his hand tingle at the contact. It had been a long time since anyone touched him without anger.

As Joseph turned to go inside he mumbled back,” I, um, I didn’t get your name.”

“It’s Aiden.” And just then, Aiden smiled one of those truly genuine, light up the room, smiles that people can’t help but respond to.

“Really? that’s a beautiful name!” Joseph responded with awe.

“Thanks, I picked it out myself.” Aiden laughed and closed the exterior door behind them.

Joseph flashed him a questioning smile.

“You better hurry inside if you want to talk to the boss before he goes to bed,” Aiden took off up the stairs to help the guests get settled before he would have to explain his comment.


	2. Secret Rules of Being a Bouncer

Joseph descended the stairs quickly looking around for… actually, he wasn’t sure what the Devil looked like. As he glanced around he noticed a tall man reclining on the center couch with arms stretched along each side.

“Welcome Joseph, have a seat.”

He couldn’t find an appropriate space that wasn’t _right next to the Devil_ , so he took a breath and sat down on Lucifer’s left side leaving as much space between them as possible.

“No need to be scared, I don’t bite. Unless you’re into that?” Lucifer was exhausted, but it was obvious to him what Joseph needed (besides the need to lighten up).

“No, sir. I, um, I have a favor to ask.” Joseph couldn’t help the sudden anxiety creeping up on him. So many things had gone wrong recently and he had a foreboding feeling that this was going to be another one in a long line of let downs.

“Well, get on with it,” the devil encouraged as he sipped his scotch.

“I need a way into the mob or something.” Joseph blurted out, not really sure why that was the first thing that came to his head.

“No.”  
  
“No?” The blunt response took Joseph by surprise, there had been no haggling whatsoever and he was already being rejected.

“No, that’s not what you’re here for.” Lucifer looked into his eyes and he felt a slight tug in the center of his brain.

“Well then, I want a way to get rich.” He said quickly trying to ignore the other words his brain was forming without his full permission.  

Lucifer heaved a deeply put-upon sigh, “Joseph, cut the crap, it’s too late in the day for this. What is it that you truly desire?  Not what you think you need, what do you want?”

Joseph felt himself relax as he was called out forcefully. There was no hiding. _Surrender_ a voice whispered. _You know you want to tell him. He won’t judge you._

“I just want to be happy,” he whispered.

“And the key to your happiness, Joseph?” Lucifer smiled, like a teacher watching a kid finally figure out a math problem. Slowly the real answer bled out of Joseph.  
  
“Self-sufficiency. But no one will hire a criminal and I’m having a hard time even applying for housing. No one will even date me.” The feelings in his chest that he’d been suppressing for weeks seems to double in intensity, bubbling forward, making him face his real desires.  
  
“And?” Lucifer raised an elegant eyebrow, knowingly.  
  
“And I’m gay” Joseph whispered. He hadn’t told anyone else. His family wouldn’t approve. And it would just make trying to find housing or a job worse.

“Good man! Glad you could get that out in the open without too much prompting. Now let’s see about that job…MAZIKEEN!”

“What?” Maze hollered angrily from somewhere behind the bar.

“When you are done with Brandy, please show Joseph around and teach him to replace Bartholomew as the bouncer,” Lucifer spoke calmly while his eyes never left the face of his new employee. Joseph thought it was mildly creepy the way he stared. Like that video he had seen online of a cassowary sizing up it’s prey.

A young brunette popped her head over the counter of the bar, “What’s wrong with Barty?”

“He’s turned away many good customers this month, failed to stop a fight, and overall has bad taste in who he lets in. Not that it should matter to you Brandy. I only explain so that Joseph here may know how to avoid the same fate. I don’t suffer fools lightly and now that you owe me one, I expect you to prove your worth.”

Maze rose from behind the counter adjusting her top. “Come along newbie, let’s get you situated.” Lucifer waved him on as he himself headed toward the back elevator, drink in hand.

Maze grabbed him by the back of the neck as he tried to walk next to her down the hall. “Don’t let him fool you, he may be the devil but the real reason he’s firing Bart is that the idiot kept Lucifer’s partner waiting outside too long.”

“Who’s the love interest? And how do I know if I’m keeping the right people in or out? I haven’t been a bouncer before.”

“You’ll do fine, just know that he’s got a thing for this detective chick who is as plain as they come. You’ll know who she is… she’s the only one not dressed like she _wants_ in, and the only one with the balls to try to get in anyway.”

She showed him around, again dragging him by the scruff or just commanding him around the building. He knew it was a test, but it was definitely setting a tone for what to expect in the future. And to be honest, he kinda liked it: straightforward, honest, concise.

By the end of it, the sun was rising and he was exhausted, but happy. Things were looking up. As she pushed him out the front door she called out, “Oh, and one more thing… The little one is with me. If you see the detective’s kid, you let her in, I don’t care that she’s nine.”

“You have a daughter with Lucifer’s detective?” _Actually it sounded like Maze had ownership of the kid in some weird way but he wasn’t about to tell her that._

“No, ew. The detective may be his friend, but Trixie is my friend. I’m teaching her to knife fight,” Maze laughed proudly, “She’s not to be messed with.” _Ahh, so more like Maze thinks this kid is a protege she adopted…. Still weird._

“Anything you say Boss.” Joseph saluted playfully as he turned away and headed for home. _This is going to be one hell of a job._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 has the dialogue written but is still WIP so I'll update as soon as I figure out how to describe people's movements.


	3. The Rainbow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm slow, I just really didn't want to write anything other than the dialogue for this.

He’d been working the job for several days when he met her. And boy did she stand out from the crowd. “Can I help you?” He offered as she caught his gaze.

“I’m here to see Lucifer.” She was anxious, pacing back and forth in front of him. Not normal behavior for a detective but likely normal for people who are frustrated with the devil.

“Are you the one?” He was purposefully vague but not rude.

“No, what, I’m not The One. I’m a detective with LAPD.” Chloe turned red, she wasn’t entirely sure what he meant but by the playful look on this guy’s face she had a feeling it was about the nature of her relationship with Lucifer.

“So you are Detective Decker?” He said her name like it had an extra special meaning and she turned a nice shade of pink. It was kinda fun to play with her now that she was all flustered. She must have been thinking romantically to assume what he meant.

“Yes, I’m Chloe, nice to meet you.” Maybe an attempt at professionalism would distract from the obvious way that the staff must have talked about her and Lucifer together.

“You can go on in, but he’s not here at the moment. He’s at a meeting with our scotch distributor down the road-” He was going to elaborate but she cut him off out of frustration.

“Damn it, I was hoping he knew where my daughter went, she got an Uber here.”

“OH TRIXIE?” Joseph couldn’t help but burst into a wide grin; he really liked that kid. Trixie had come right up to him and asked for Maze without a care in the world and when he questioned her, she parried with ‘Do you know _anyone_ who would hurt a friend of Maze’s? Especially since she’s teaching me ninja moves!’ and then she had shown him her whirling kneecap-splitting kick.

Chloe stared at him, her hand twitched to where he was sure she kept her gun. Maybe his grin had come off as scary instead of excited?

“Your daughter is with Maze in the Penthouse, I have strict orders to guard her with my life and keep her out of trouble if she ever stops by…. But not to worry, I think they were playing cards. I mean, like Go Fish, not Poker, but you know how it is with Maze…” he trailed off sheepishly.

“Thank you, and your name is…” She looked like she would definitely be running a background check on him tonight. _Oh crap, maybe I shouldn’t fuck with the cops. I just got comfortable in this job._

“Joseph…” he purposefully left off his last name, Lucifer or Maze would have to tell her and then surely they would back him up when she found out about his sketchy life. Right?

“Thanks Joseph, but I’d appreciate it if you called the police when you come across a runaway instead of letting a kid into a bar.” She was trying to scare him just a little and it was working except for when he remembered how scary Maze could be.

“I didn’t let her into the bar, I let her into an apartment where she knew the owner and was a friend, and where she was an expected guest. And if I thought that anything at all was going to happen to a child, I would stop it and report them immediately. But it’s obvious that they both adore Beatrice. She’s a good kid. And she bosses Lucifer around, it’s quite funny really.”

“Well then thanks I guess… for looking out for her.” The wind left her sails as she noticed the genuine care and honesty in Joseph’s face.

“Of course, ma’am.” He watched, smirking, as she headed inside to find her daughter.

~*~*~*~

Aiden leaned over the table where he had been setting up for the evening’s events. “Hey gorgeous! You working tomorrow? I um, I have some tickets to a show and I thought you might like to see it with me.”

“Hey Aiden, I have tomorrow off too! I’d like being able to spend some time with you.” Lucifer must be rubbing off on him because he couldn’t turn off these damn heart eyes he kept accidentally throwing at Aiden.

“You don’t even know what the show is yet….” Aiden laughed in a deep hearty way.

Joseph smirked and glanced down, “I have a good idea of what I’ll be watching.”

Aiden hit him with a playful smack to the shoulder, “Behave…”

“When are you boys going to get it on? Huh?” Maze stalked around the corner.

Aiden looked down quickly, walking away to put some space between himself and Joseph. “You know I’m shy.”

“Bullshit, you’re not shy, you’re scared. But this jock won’t care Aiden, you know he won’t, just tell him.” Maze grabbed Joseph by the back of the neck and shoved him surprisingly gently toward Aiden.

“Tell me what?” Joseph joked back, enjoying the playful atmosphere.

“Maze, I’m not ready for that yet” Aiden harshly whispered as he went back to work, pointedly ignoring Joseph for the time being.

Maze leaned in close to Aiden, enjoying the way he tensed up around her, hunting prey was so much fun. “Ok, but you should just go for it. Lucifer and I have a bet going and if you wait too much longer I’m going to lose. And you know how I feel about losing bets.”

A sigh escaped his lips, “Maze…” Aiden walked off into the bar.

“What’s up with his mood, Maze?” Joseph asked after he was sure Aiden wouldn’t overhear.

“He thinks you’ll have a problem with his past, he doesn’t like to talk about the kind of person he used to be.” Maze didn’t like telling the secrets of others but this one might be worth the payoff.

“Why would he think that? He knows I have a jaded past. I don’t judge people based on that!” Joseph exclaimed.

“You should ask him sometime. Maybe when he’s a little more relaxed.” Maze gave him a pat on the back before starting inventory checks.

“Yeah, yeah I will…” Joseph stared off after his crush.

~*~*~

During the concert:

“Excuse me ma’am, ma’am you dropped this!” Some stranger ran up to Aiden and handed him his dropped keys.

Aiden flinched. He flinched hard. Joseph couldn’t ignore it.

Joseph spoke up in his defense, “Yo dude, thanks but this is a man.”

The stranger got a bit defensive but backed off quickly enough, “Well he’s got hips like a girl and he walks like a lady. Sorry for guessing wrong bro. Have a good night.”

“No worries bro” Aiden responded in a voice about two octaves deeper than his normal voice.

_Ooooooooooh_.

Joseph smiled as he finally understood. He was a little sad that Aiden felt the need to hide it but he understood. He wrapped an arm around Aiden’s shoulders and whispered in his ear. “I don’t know what that asshole’s talking about, you’re the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.” He let go and started heading to their seats and he failed to see the way that Aiden’s face lit up at the comment.

Over the next few hours they chatted and danced and by the end of it all Joseph had tucked himself against Aiden’s chest loving the way he didn’t have to be a “big strong tough guy” around his new best friend (and maybe, if he was lucky, something more than friends).

“Hey man, I just wanted to say thanks” Aiden stroked the back of Joseph’s neck as he pulled him in tight.

“For what?” Joseph questioned as he looked up Aiden.

“For sticking up for me earlier, that was really sweet of you.” Aiden was smitten but he was still hesitant about getting too attached.

“My pleasure Aiden, and …”

“And…” Aiden wasn’t sure where this was going.

“And if it’s alright… would you like to go out with me sometime.” Joseph put a hand on Aiden’s leg a little bit possessively.

“You mean like a date?” Aiden questioned.

“Yeah?” Joseph got hopeful.

“Sounds great but uh…”

Joseph stared as he tried to anticipate Aiden’s thoughts, “Is there something else?”

“I just… you should know, before we get too into it… you should know” Aiden clammed up and pulled away from Joseph slightly.

“Please don’t tell me you’re secretly straight” Joseph joked, trying to ease the tension in his friend.

“No, of course not” Aiden laughed. “No man, I’m uh, I’m trans.”

“I know, so when can we go on our date?” Joseph smiled, enjoying the shocked looked on Aiden’s face.

“You KNOW?” Aiden was too shocked to move.

“Yeah, I figured it out. It’s ok. I like you” Joseph smiled.

Aiden got suspicious, “Did Maze tell you?”

“No, Aiden, she didn’t tell. I just, I see you. And I like you no matter what’s in your pants. No big deal, right? You like me without knowing what’s in mine, yeah?” Joseph nudged Aiden with an elbow.

“Yeah of course man, you’re such a sweet heart, I couldn’t imagine anything down there that would bother me. Except maybe a Furby tattoo.” Aiden made a face at Joseph. He was trying to act cool, but his heart was going a million miles a hour inside his ribcage.

“Thanks” Joseph muttered sarcastically.

“This is awesome.” Joseph leaned forward closing the gap between them and Aiden surged forward to meet him in a kiss which lasted longer than either of them really expected and left them both just a little bit breathless.

“Yeah, awesome…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants more, please let me know what you think should happen next. I'm almost out of ideas for this one.


End file.
